Chapters ‘Oh my gooooosh! I’m so superbly sensationally samazingly excited about this holiday! It’s gonna be sooo much fun! So much fun I had to use three ‘s’ words to describe how excited I am! Well, one of them was an ‘a’ word with an ‘s’ at the start, but I couldn’t think of another ‘s’ word! That’s how excited I am! I can’t even think properly!’
‘Pinkie Pie, calm down! When we’re at Haywaii, you have to straighten up a bit! We don’t want to look like...ugh...Tourists.’ Rarity retorted to the party pony, packing yet another Bikini into her 5th suitcase.
It was the end of autumn in Ponyville, and the Running of the leaves had just finished yesterday. The winner was Applejack, after leading pony Ace tripped over a tree stump (although there was dispute as to whether Applejack tripped him or not, everypony trusted Pinkies eye in the sky for seeing hher not trip him over). For winning, she had gotten a lot of prize money. 10,000 bits, in fact. She was going to spend it all on renovating the farm, however she had worked hard throughout harvest season this year and everypony told her she needed a break. Applejack, being very kind, decided she wanted all of her very best friends to go with her.
‘I’m a might grateful you all persuaded me to take a rest from the farm. I’m plum tuckered after Applebuckin’ season and this holiday to Haywaii was a great idea.’ Applejack told her friends.
‘Yes, I’m excited about this holiday too, Applejack. I’ve heard at Haywaii they have some very interesting traditions. They would make for a very exciting letter to the princess’. Twilight stated, Fluttershy nodding.
‘And I’m interested to go, because of all the animals! Do you know there are some animals that don’t exist anywhere else in Equestria that live in Haywaii?’ The Yellow Pegasus said in an excited tone.
‘And have you seen those garlands they wear? Floral designs are very in this season, and they just look stunning! Just imagine, me, having the real deal, made in Haywaii!’ Rarity squealed, getting excited at the prospect of visiting the small island, before composing herself. ‘Of course, I will act with dignity and respect, not like a tourist.’
‘We should dash!’ The rainbow maned Pegasus announced, ‘Our flight leaves soon and we can’t miss it!’
The Six ponies gathered their belongings, either carrying them with magic, or on their back. They then walked out the door of Twilights library. The purple pony swivelled round, making sure everyone had the necessities.
‘Passports?’
‘CHECK!’
‘Boarding passes?’
‘CHECK!’
‘Sun cream?’
‘CHECK!’
‘Alright then! That’s the bare essentials. Oh wait, of course, there’s one more thing!’
‘CHECK!’
If you were inside Canterlot Airport, then you would be able to hear the whining of a certain cyan coated mare as she and her friends waited for their plane, which had been delayed due to a strange yellow maned Pegasus flying into the flight zone and grinding all flights to a halt (when questioned what she was doing there, this grey pony said she dropped her muffin and was looking for it. Officials have yet to retrieve said muffin).
‘Ugh, this is taking forever! Why can’t we get on the plane now? I can see it! I could dash there in 10 seconds flat!’ Rainbow shouted, groaning.
‘Rainbow, we’ve only waited for an hour. I’m sure there’s just a little technical difficulty, is all.’ Twilight told her impatient friend, who slumped back down into her seat in the waiting room.
Applejack shifted her eyes nervously side to side. She removed her hat to wipe her brow which was heavy with sweat. She opened her mouth to talk, but her throat was dry, so she had to cough before attempting to talk again.
‘Sure is hot in here, isn’t it guys? Hahaha...’ She said, unconvincingly.
Fluttershy saw something was wrong with her friend and decided to see if there was anything she could do to help.
‘I’m fine, Fluttershy, but thanks for asking.’
‘Oh, no, Applejack, you’re not fine. I can tell. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else if you don’t want me to.’
‘Well, it’s a tad embarrassing. I don’t really want to say it out loud.’ The orange work pony glanced around to make sure Pinkie wasn’t in earshot. Luckily, she was talking to what looked like an extremely confused pilot. ‘I have a fear of flying.’
‘Oh Applejack. We all have fears, like, I’m scared of the sound the oven makes when it’s done cooking. That loud ringing sound...it’s startling. But there’s no need to be worried about flying. Think, even I’m not scared of flying. And that’s coming from me.’ The kind pony put her hoof on her friends and Applejack smiled in return.
‘Thanks Fluttershy. I couldn’t have gone on tha’ plane without your help. Some of this fancy shmancy unicorn magic and engineering business gives me the heebie jeebies.’ Applejack said, shuddering.
‘Oh, flying isn’t scary, Applejack. When I was younger I wasn’t a very strong flier, but discovering what made me happy somehow made me stronger and able to fly. Maybe you should think of what makes you happy and the magic might work better.’ Fluttershy reassured her friend. ‘I’ll sit next to you if you like.’
Rainbow Dash, who had been listening secretly for her own amusement, decided to butt in the conversation at completely the wrong moment in time.
Applejack got out of her seat into her seat.
‘We can’t go home now, Applejack! You promised we’d go on holiday and it would be fun! You better thank your lucky stars it wasn’t a pinkie promise, or you’d be in a lot of trouble! That would have been strike 2!’ Pinkie Pie told her fellow Earth pony, extending her two front hoofs to show her the number, before losing balance and toppling over.
‘What’s wrong, Applejack?’ Rarity asked.
‘Fine...you might as well all know...I have a fear of flying’. Applejack told her friends, ashamed.
‘Aviophobia, huh? Let me tell you this, Applejack. You’re more likely to die from an Apple tree falling on top of you than a plane crashin-‘ Twilight stated, stopping halfway and realizing what she had just told her friend who works on an apple farm.
‘Finally!’ Rainbow Dash shouted, before proceeding to zoom right up to the check in desk at an alarming rate. She didn’t know whether she’d be able to stop in time, but she needed to move! The receptionist pony with a cyan coat and white, poufy hair squealed at Rainbow Dash who stopped mere centimetres away from her face, before scowling.
‘Oh shoot, Rarity has them. She’s my friend over there. Just let me on, and then she’ll show you my passport when she gets here! Okay?’
‘I’m afraid we can’t do that, madam. I’m going to ask you, madam, to step outside the queue, madam, as you’re holding up other passengers, madam.’
‘But I-‘
‘Madam.’
Sighing, Rainbow trudged back to the rest of her friends...at the back of the queue. More waiting, she thought. Just what she needed. Did the receptionist not know who she was? The one and only, amazing Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in ALL of Equestria! Winner of the Young Fliers competition!
‘Oh, I should probably get the passports ready now, for when we get to the queue.’ Rarity said, fumbling inside one of her many bags looking for them.
‘Oh, I could have sworn I left them inside this bag. Well, onto bag number two!’ The white unicorn said, unzipping another suitcase with her magic.
‘Whose Idea was it to let Rarity keep the passports? She’s going to take FOREVER.’ Rainbow Dash stated, crossing her arms.
‘Well, it was either her, or Pinkie Pie.’ Twilight said, looking over at the Pink pony, who was currently...in the decorative water fountain? Oh dear sweet Luna.
‘Pinkie! Get out of there!’ Twilight told her friend, who obliged, dripping wet.
‘What in tarnation were ya doin’ in there?’ Applejack asked. Pinkie inhaled deeply. Everypony knew what was coming next.
‘Woops. Sorry. Guess I went off on one again. All that water made me need the bathroom though.’ Pinkie stated, hopping toward the little fillies room, still soaking wet from her fountain hi-jinks.
‘Bag number seven...’ Rarity said, panic abundant in her voice. ‘Oh, please tell me I didn’t forget the passports!’
‘What are they doing there?’ Rarity asked to no-one in particular, brandishing them with her magic ready for when they got to the desk.
‘You put them there so you wouldn’t forget where you put them.’ Fluttershy said, giggling at the unicorns mistake. Rarity started blushing a bright pink, but seeing all her other friends laughing made her laugh along with them. Well, everypony made mistakes sometimes.
‘My mistake. Ah, looks like it’s our turn.’ Rarity opened the passports for the receptionist to see, who dully nodded at them in return, save Rainbow Dash, who she gave a deeply patronizing smile. The ponies placed their bags on the luggage carousel before trotting towards the terminal being the last to board the plane.
‘Have a nice trip, ladies.’ The receptionist called after the girls, who boarded the plane single file. There weren’t reserved seats on this particular flight and there weren’t enough seats for them to sit together, so they just went off and sat wherever they liked.
‘I don’t want to sit at a window. No matter what the odds are of somethin’ going wrong, ah still don’t want to see the ground from way up here.’ Applejack stated, so Fluttershy took the window seat while Applejack sat next to her and strapped her seatbelt on as soon as she did, taking her aht off and holding it to her chest.
Rarity found herself at the front of the plane. Sitting herself down next to a lone passenger who looked as if they were going to Haywaii on a business trip, she calmly pulled out her eye mask, before pulling her seat back and deciding to get a little shut eye. After all, this was an overnight flight, so she might as well get some rest now.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat next to each other, Twilight looking around at all the machinery inside the plane. She’d never been on one before and she found it fascinating. Even the plane trip in itself was worthy of a report. The mechanics of the plane, the design, the study of aerodynamics was very interesting indeed! But she didn’t have her quill and ink in her hand luggage, so she settled for a good book - ‘Of Mice and Stallions’ – a classic no doubt in her mind.
Rainbow Dash saw her friend reading and remembered she was up to book 5 in Daring Do’s escapades, ‘Daring Do and the return of the Gryphons Grail!’ Rainbow Dash wondered how her friend Gilda was getting on. It had been a year since her visit to Ponyville and she hadn’t heard a word from her since. Rainbow reminded herself to check up on Gilda when she got back from this vacation. But for now, Daring Do!
The plane’s engines started rumbling as several unicorns ran the engine with their magic. Applejack, suddenly changing her mind again, made an excuse in her mind.
‘Oh no! Look at this Fluttershy!’ She told her friend, who turned to face her.
‘Oh? What is it?’
‘Look at this rusty machine part! It looks faulty! We better not stay on this thing.’ Applejack said, unbuckling her seat belt.
‘Yes I do! It’s...the left phalange! Eeyup, there’s something wrong with the left phalange.’
‘What was that?’ Asked a nervous sounding stallion voice from behind them.
‘Oh, my friend here is just making up something because she’s scared of flying.’ Fluttershy told the colt behind them.
‘The...left phalange? That sounds serious! I’m getting off as well.’ The young stallion said, getting out from his seat and walking down the aisle.
‘Where are you going?’ Asked a yellow pelted flight attendant with a plane flying over a cloud for a cutie mark.
‘The left phalange is broken!’ He stated loudly, causing the whole plane to look up at the two.
‘There is no such thing as a phalange. At least, not in a plane.’ The attendant said, guiding the man back to his seat.
‘Just relax Applejack. You’re so tense. Loosen up and try imaging you’re somewhere else.’ Fluttershy told her nervous friend, who strapped herself in tighter and gulped.
The engine hummed louder and the plane started to move down the runway slowly. Several of the younger ponies onboard looked out of the window in excitement as the speed of the plane crept up. It hopped and attempted to take off, the nose pointing upwards ever so slightly as the engine roared. Eventually, the plane was a few feet off the ground in its fast ascent, which became 10 feet...50...100...the numbers continued to rise until the plane levelled out at a fair attitude and the engines calmed down a little.
Twilight smiled, swallowing to stop her ears from feeling funny and continuing to read her book. She enjoyed the peace of the plane, the quiet, save several ponies chatting about their vacation and the small mumblings of Rarity sleep-talking at the front of the plane (something about fabulosity). Something struck Twilight. As if she had forgotten something. That odd niggling feeling. Last minute panic.
Passports? Rarity still had those. Sun cream? Yep, everypony had a bottle in their hand luggage. Hotel tickets? Yep, in Twilights saddlebags safe and sound. No need for concern. Everything was here.
Everything. Not Everypony.
‘PINKIE PIE!’
‘How in tarnation could we forget Pinkie? She’s always jabberin’ on about somethin’.’ Applejack asked.
‘It’s easy! Let me open up a window, then I’ll soar right on back to the airport and pick her up!’ Rainbow Dash explained, looking proud of such a plan. But Twilight shook her head solemnly.
‘I’m sorry, Rainbow, but that can’t be done. This is a flight path, and it’s strictly forbidden for anypony to be flying in one of those. You could get sent to prison.’ She told her friend sadly.
‘Then...then...they should turn this plane around! Turn it around, and go and get Pinkie Pie! Celestia knows what she’ll do if she’s left alone for even more than an hour!’ Rainbow Dash exclaimed, the element of Loyalty showing her colours, although her plans were now becoming more like clutching at straws.
‘Well, if you ask me,’ Rarity said, ‘there’s nothing we can do right now. I’m sure Pinkie Pie is managing by herself. She will be fine, but we’ll contact her when we get to Haywaii to see what we can do. For now I recommend we all get a good night’s sleep.’
Everypony, though they didn’t like it, had no choice but to agree with Rarity. She was right, after all. Pinkie Pie was responsible when she needed to be, and she always pulled off a miracle, somehow. She’d probably arrive at Haywaii before they did or something.
Twilight planned out what she was going to do in her head: They’d send a letter to Spike to go to the Airport and check up on Pinkie Pie to see if she was alright. Maybe someone else could look after all their pets for a while. Okay, send a letter to Spike getting Mr. & Mrs Cake...oh wait, they had the twins to look after. Then, maybe get Daisy to look after the pets for a while. Oh no, she still faints whenever she sees a bunny...Well, he’ll find someone to look after them all, then get to the airport as quick as he can...Spike will sort it out....number one assistant...always does...
‘We have arrived in Haywaii. Please set your clocks 3 hours forward and leave the plane towards the Airport where you will receive your luggage.’ The flight attendant called out, waking up the five mares.
‘Oh my, look, the birds are singing! I’ve never seen fauna like this, ever!’ Fluttershy cried, bounding off the plane to get a closer look. Fluttershy always woke up Early to feed her animals, so she was bright eyed and cheery faced. The others followed her, still groggy eyed and unruly haired.
‘Whoo-ee Twi! You weren’t lyin’ when you said this place was hot!’ Applejack said, fanning herself with her hat before placing it back on her head.
‘Think of the beaches! Oh, the luxury! It’ll be simply marvellous!’ Rarity continued, strolling towards to the Airport, bags in tow.
‘It is a wonderful place, I agree, but we mustn’t stay off task. Pinkie Pie is our priority. Let’s see if we can find a GreenFlame to send a letter in.’ Twilight reminded everypony.
‘What now?’ Rainbow asked, confused.
‘A GreenFlame. It’s relatively new technology. The flame Spike can produce is green. This type of fire allows letters to be sent wherever the sender wishes them to go. Normally it’s only produced in Dragons very rarely, but scientists have developed an artificial Green Flame for use of sending mail.’ Twilight informed Rainbow Dash, who even after the very simple explanation was still none the wiser as to what a GreenFlame was.
‘Well, let’s get going then! Passports!’ Rainbow told Rarity, who dislodged six of them from her hair. She opened up one of them to see Pinkie Pies grinning face staring back at her.
‘Oh, I do hope she’s all right.’ Rarity said to herself, stopping briefly, before carrying on and trotting into Haywaii regional Airport.
Inside the Airport, the five friends walked over to the luggage carousel, taking in the sights of the amazing island as they did so.
‘Oh, that’s my one.’ Twilight saw her bag and levitated it over to herself, checking the nametag. Yep, this one was hers! It was a popular model, so she had to check it to make sure she hadn’t taken somepony else’s. Then, an idea popped into her head.
‘I know, why don’t I stay here and get our bags while you guys go off and try to find a GreenFlame?’ Twilight said.
‘Very well then! Come on girls! I’ll go left and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, you go right.’ Rarity finalized the idea and everypony got into motion doing her own job.
It was hot in Haywaii, thought Rarity. Much hotter than she’d imagined. The sun hadn’t been fully risen yet, so it wasn’t as hot as it would be soon. The humid air got in Rarity’s throat and made her feel a little clogged up. This wasn’t like the crisp Ponyville air at all. While looking, Rarity looked at some locals and remembered what Twilight had told her about the island, ging through the information so she didn’t look like a tourist or an ignorant person.
The locals of Haywaii were mainly Earth Ponies, with only a few Pegasi and Unicorns. Being an island in the West Equestrian Ocean, it was fairly isolated and so the rarer Pegasus and Unicorn genes hadn’t fully integrated in the community. Their colours were very Earthy, unlike the colourful pastels found in other Equestrian communities. Rarity had done some reading up and knew this was because the Ancient Haywaiians needed to blend into their surroundings so predators (which were abundant on the island) wouldn’t see them. Thus, rich greens and Rust red were common colours, however a deep blue and Earthy brown were also a normal sight. Rarity had also learned their tribal outfits were simply stunning, and reminded herself to bring her inspiration book so she could jot down ideas wherever she would go.
‘Oh, I feel like such a tourist! I’m bright white with Purple hair! Two colours that don’t occur in the wild at all! At least I’m not the only one...Rainbow Dash must stick out like a sore hoof!’ Thought Rarity to herself, before realizing she had gone all the way to the Airports edge window and not found anything that looked like a GreenFlame. Oh well, she’d regroup back to the luggage carousel.
When she got back she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had already scouted the right side and were waiting for Rarity’s return with Twilight and Applejack.
‘Any luck Sugarcube?’ Applejack asked, keeping her eye on the rotating conveyor belt.
‘Oh my, this is awful, just awful! How will we contact Pinkie Pie if there isn’t a GreenFlame anywhere here?’ Fluttershy asked nopony in particular, tears brimming up in her eyes.
‘Pull it together, Fluttershy! Anypony would think somepony had died! Which they haven’t!’ Rainbow Dash yelled at her friend, her patience snapping.
‘Rainbow! That was a mean thing to say! Apologize!’ Rarity told off her brash friend.
‘No way! She’s always crying about things she doesn’t need too! And I’m fed up about this! Why should we worry about Pinkie Pie not being here? She’ll be fine, like Twilight said! She’ll just go home, we can have the holiday without her.’
‘How rude! In that case, I’ll just leave!’ Said Pinkie Pie, stomping away from the group.
‘Huh?!’ Everypony else said in unison, turning toward their bright pink fiend, who shouldn’t have been there, but definitely was.
‘Oh, Pinkie! I’m so glad you’re here!’ Fluttershy said, running up to her friend to nuzzle her neck as a sign of friendship.
‘Oh, that’s a doozy! Well, I stepped out the bathroom and saw you were all gone! The plane hadn’t left so I tried to get on but that meanie receptionist wouldn’t let me without a Passpart.’
‘Passport.’ Twilight corrected her.
‘That’s what I said, Passpart! Silly! Anyway, I didn’t really know what to do, but I didn’t want to stay at the Airport, so I decided to see if I could catch a boat here! Funny enough, I couldn’t! You need a Passpart there too! Why? They only check the face, and they can see my face if they looked up from the passpart at me!’
‘Cut to the chase, Pinkie Pie! It’s wonderful you’re here, but how?’
‘Well, in short, it involves a sneaking suit, speedboat, sunglasses, and a whole load of Sarsaparilla.’ Pinkie finished her tale, leaving everypony stunned.
‘So you stole a speedboat-‘ Rarity started, before Twilight put a hoof over her mouth.
‘Best not go there.’ She mouthed to her fellow unicorn.
‘Anyway, the good thing is she’s here! And we can finally start this vacation! And boy, am I starved! Where are we off to next?’ Applejack said, hauling her own suitcase, which was the last one, onto the trolley that carried them.
‘The hotel!’ Twilight said, grinning.
‘Oh yeah, Twilights mystery hotel! We finally get to found out where we’re staying!’ Rainbow shouted, her excitement getting the best of her.
‘And I know you girls will love it! Follow me!’ Twilight said, picking up her luggage with her magic and waving a hoof to signal everypony to follow her.
There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was going to be their best holiday ever!
The Elements of Harmony Hotel
‘The Elements of Harmony Hotel. Where we offer Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty and a sprinkling of Magic to each and every one of our customers.’ Rainbow read out from the sign in front of the grand beachside hotel.
‘Not when I told them we were the Element of Harmony ourselves! We’re quite famous! Look!’ Twilight then pointed toward a statue garden, which had reincarnations of each of the ponies defeating Discord.
‘They gave us a special discount, all inclusive, all areas! As long as we give quotes for them to put on their leaflet, and offer to be the mascots of this place.’
‘Wow! Mascots of a fancy pants place like this?’ Pinkie asked, scanning the statues with vigor.
‘Yes, and we should check into our room!’ Twilight told everypony, strolling into the foyer where they were greeted by two unicorn Bellboys who levitated their suitcases straight away.
‘Have them put outside of Room 67 please!’ Twilight told them, and they obliged silently, trotting up the stairs with the smallest of ease. ‘Feel free to look around while I check us all in.’ Twilight told her friends, who started looking around the grand foyer in amazement. Applejack found herself looking out the window at some very odd fruit trees that were being picked by hoof.
‘Why, I should show them the bucking technique! They’ll be grateful for that time saver!’ Applejack said, making a mental note to do that in a moment.
Pinkie Pie & Fluttershy wandered over to the bulletin board to see if there was anything that would catch their interest.
Meanwhile, Twilight had checked everypony in and signalled for the rest of the girls to follow her up the stairs, which they did, discussing the activities that they wanted to do in their own free time amongst eachother. The floor was laid with plush red carpet with jewels embedded along the sideboard at regular intervals. This place reeked of money and lavish indulgence, a place where the rich would stay on their holidays.
A large portrait of Celestia hung at the end of the corridor, wings outstretched, and her horn glowing. She looked surprisingly intimidating in this portrait. Twilight walked past everyponies luggage outside room 67 and took a closer look at the painting. She had never seen Celestia this angry before, ever, and it scared Twilight a little, even if it was a painting. There was a little caption at the bottom, which Twilight read out loud,
‘Artists depiction of Celestia using The Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord and put Equestria into order – Circa B.C 0.’
Meanwhile she saw her friends had already gone inside the room and taken the liberty of pulling Twilights suitcase into the room. She followed them inside and had to stop, awestruck at their room.
It was huge, much bigger than Twilight had expected, larger than how it had looked on the leaflets. Six single beds were laid out at one end of the room, each with plush white pillows and a fluffy duvet in the colour of each respecting ponies pelt. In the middle of the room there stood a fantastic rug that felt soft underneath your hooves, even softer than the plush carpeting that was everywhere else. At the other end of the room was a snack bar and mini fridge, which was already stocked, as Twilight could see Pinkie Pie was already helping herself to some snacks. There was a door at one side near the beds which Twilight could only assume lead to the En Suite. To top it all off, a dazzling chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling in the Haywaiian morning light.
‘Oh Twilight, it’s much more than I imagined!’ Rarity announced, eyeing the chandelier above her head.
‘I’d like to thank y’all for convincing me to spend my prize money on a holiday for all of us. Sometimes I guess we just need a break.’ Applejack said, smiling at all her friends.
‘GROUP HUG!’ Pinkie shouted and pulled all of her friends towards her with her somehow magically long hooves. Everypony looked at eachother and laughed. Twilight cleared her throat, breaking the laughter.
‘I didn’t plan anything for the first day so you can all run wild if you want! But remember, meet back at the hotel room at quarter to ele-‘ She said, before everypony ran out the room , leaving Twilight dizzy and unable to finish her sentence.
...
Rarity sauntered towards the beach, wearing an elegant straw hat that had a red ribbon tied around the rim, and saddlebags that were a light blue, the same as her diamond cutie mark. She had thought of wearing a bikini but no-one else was around here so she thought not to. And all that packing of them!
‘Oh, I hope it isn’t too much.’ Rarity said out loud to herself, placing a hoof on the clear white sand. She immediately regretted the decision as she found it was scorching hot, pain running into her hoof.
‘Oh Horseapples!’ Rarity said, covering her mouth quickly. Luckily, no-one was around to hear that! Rarity told herself off for acting so uncouth and walked on the beach, this time around bracing herself for the heat. She found a suitable spot where she could lay down and maybe even get a nice tan. She had remembered to put on UVF protection however, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get a tan! Opening her saddlebag with her mouth, she drew out a towel and laid it down upon the sand, before sitting back and relaxing. Pulling a pair of sunglasses out from her bags she proceeded to put her forelegs behind her back.
‘Ahhh, bliss.’ She said to herself, before she sensed the cold sensation of...shade? Obviously somepony was blocking her light. She’d just kindly ask them to move out of the way. She took off her sunglasses, and began to speak.
‘Would you be as kind as to...as to...move...’ Rarity stopped herself from talking as she stared at the pony before her eyes.
‘Oh, uh, nothing, except, you’re blocking my light a little.’ Rarity replied, trying to keep her composure. Stay cool, stay calm.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Name’s Haysellhoof. And yours...?’
‘Rarity.’
‘Rarity! And how fitting it is! A mare as pretty as you sure is a rare sight around here...’ He continued flirting in a cool tone, grinning a perfect white tooth smile.
‘Oh, there are lots of other mares around here just as beautiful...okay, maybe not.’ Rarity joked, and they both laughed at her little bout of false vanity.
‘Let me get you a drink.’ Haysellhoof said, winking and walking over to a bar near the hotel.
Rarity wasn’t sure where this was going, but she was enjoying it for now, at least.
~/*~
Applejack sauntered over to the row of strange fruit trees where ponies were busy climbing up and picking them precariously. She noticed how impressive these workers were, managing to shimmy up the tree and pick these fruits with their mouths, before dropping them into a bucket beneath that lay on the sand. Impressive as it was, simply bucking these trees would save them a lot of time and their productivity would go up by a lot.
A pony with a white pelt and thin, dark brown hair trotted over to Applejack with a smile on her face. As she got closer, Applejack noticed there were three of these strange, brown ‘fruits’ on her flank.
‘How can I help you, ma’am?’ The pony asked her, ‘My name is Cocoa Nut, owner of the Coconut Fields.’ She said, extending a hoof in a friendly hoof shake.
‘And I’m Applejack from Ponyville, working at Sweet Apple Acres. Say, these strange fruits...they the, uh, Coconut things you were talkin’ about earlier?’
‘Yep, they sure are! Coconuts are native to Haywaii! You can only get them here, so we make a lot of money importing them all over the place! Say, you never tried a coconut before, have you?’ Cocoa continued, to which Applejack shook her head.
‘Now, you can drink the coconut water inside or tip it out. Your choice. It’s said to give you extra energy and a shiny coat.’ Cocoa continued, downing the water in one quick gulp.
Applejack took a gulp, being an experimental pony, and winced at the flavour. It sure wasn’t apples; but it wasn’t all bad either.
‘Pretty good.’ Applejack said, drinking the rest of the water to find that there was only hard white flesh left in the fruit, encased by the hairy brown shell. She saw Cocoa Nutt eating both parts and decided to try some. It was much sweeter than the water, and had a nice, sweet flavour with a nutty tang to it. They weren’t half bad! Applejack reminded to take some home so everypony could try some.
‘Hey, I’ve got a faster way to get your coconuts down from the tree.’ Applejack said, walking over to one tree that wasn’t being worked on.
‘Oh, I’d love to see, really?’
‘Sure as sugar!’ Applejack yelled, drawing back her hindlegs ready to buck the coconut tree and collect the foreign fruit.
‘No! You can’t do that, then you’ll-‘
But it was too late. Applejack bucked the tree with all her might and several coconuts came crashing down. One unfortunate Coconut was feeling particularly mean that day, and decided to land right on Applejacks head.
‘Oh...ponyfeathers...’ Applejack mumbled, before falling over, unconscious.
‘Get hit by one. *sigh*’ Cocoa tutted, dragging Applejack toward the hotel for someone to patch her up and make her better.
‘A safari? Wow Fluttershy, that’s a funny word! Safari, Safari, Safari! Kinda like Sapphire. Ahh, is it a gem?’ Pinkie asked in excitement.
‘No, a safari is a trip where they show you lots of animals in the wild. Would you like to come with me, Pinkie?’ Fluttershy asked her friend who was still bouncing up and down.
‘Well, sure! There are no parties around here anyway, and everypony around here seems scared of me. Huh, silly.’ The party pony walked around behind Fluttershy so she could lead the way to the exotic animal tour.
...
‘I’m Midsummer, and I’ll be your Safari tour guide today.’ Announced an orange Earth pony mare with a bright yellow mane. She wore an explorer’s hat and shirt as well and had lots of survival tools tucked away in saddlebags.
‘Be sure to keep your hoofs inside the vehicle at all times and please, no flash photography.’ Midsummer continued, signalling to several Stallions pulling the stagecoach to go. The sudden movement startled Fluttershy and she buried her head in her safari leaflet which had been handed out at the start of the guide.
The jeep rumbled through hilly terrain as the guide pointed out several interesting birds and told the tourists a bit about them.
‘These birds are called Toucans. Their brightly coloured bill is used to attract partners, much like a mare would wear jewellery. The long beak is particularly useful for fetching berries deep inside thorny bushes and inside tree trunks’ Midsummer announced, several ponies whipping out cameras and taking photographs, of course, without flash on.
‘Oh Fluttershy! You forgot your camera...’ Fluttershy told herself off, a bang of her hair covering her left eye as it often did when she was feeling shy.
Pinkie Pie saw her friend upset and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
‘Well, I might have a camera in my bag somewhere.’ Pinkie Pie said, opening her saddlebags. ‘Haven’t cleared this out in ages. This should be interesting!’ Pinkie said, pulling out a necklace.
‘Nope.’ Pinkie then pulled out a toy boat, a milk bottle, and, Celestia knows how, a bicycle, as well as some stones and rocks of various colours, and then some berries of different varieties.
‘How do you fit it all in there?’ Fluttershy asked, peering to look inside Pinkies bags.
‘That, Fluttershy, is a secret. One I Pinkie Promised myself not to tell anyone, and if I did, boy, would I be mad at me. I’d hate that. I can get real angry.’ Pinkie informed her yellow friend, who shrugged it off as Pinkie just being Pinkie, and turning back to Midsummer.
‘Now we’re entering into Dragon territory! We’re putting the hood up, so don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly safe!’ She reassured everypony, who for the most part started chatting excitedly about dragons. All that is except Fluttershy.
‘D-dr-dra-dragons?’ Fluttershy whimpered, burying her head in her hooves. Pinkie Pie gasped in shock as she pulled out a camera.
‘Finally! Here ya go!’ Pinkie continued, plonking the camera into Fluttershy’s hooves.
‘Oh, thank you, Pinkie Pie.’
‘No problem-o, Flutters!’
An ear-deafening roar came from very close to the safari truck, causing several ponies to cower in fear. Midsummer smiled.
‘Oh turnips.’ Fluttershy told herself, cowering at the other side. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’
‘A Safari. Duh.’ Pinkie Pie answered, pushing past a wider tourist to see if she could spot the dragon. Fluttershy turned to face the window and look away from this whole situation. She looked at the other, peaceful wildlife. Several birds were out displaying their bright feathers for their mates. Small mammals were scurrying around on the floor and Fluttershy even spotted some Forest Crabs. Oh, and there was a Wyvern Dragon, charging towards the tourist bus. And a toucan on a tree branch! Wait a minute, what was that last one again?
‘DRAGON!’ Fluttershy yelled, the fearsome beast charging closer and closer...
~/*~
‘Hey Rarity. How you doing?’ Came a voice. Rarity knew it immediately and didn’t bother to take off her sunglasses to see who it was.
‘Hello, Rainbow Dash. Come here to sunbathe?’ Rarity asked.
‘Yeah, as if. Me, sunbathing? No, I want to enter a beach volleyball tournament they’re having over near the bay, but I need a partner! Play with me?’ Rainbow told her sunbathing friend.
‘Oh, sports? Rainbow, I think you have me mistaken for someone else. Go find Applejack or Pinkie Pie or someone who enjoys...getting all sweaty.’
‘But you’re sweating in this sun right now!’
‘This is a good kind of sweat, Rainbow. You wouldn’t understand.’
‘Rarity, here is your drink! And who is this?’ Haysellhoof said, trotting over to meet Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Rarity stood up and removed her sunglasses.
‘Ah, thank you Haysellhoof. This is my good friend, Rainbow Dash.’ Rarity told her, waving off a hoof as if it was nothing.
‘Rainbow Dash? Wow, my little sis loves you.’ Haysellhoof said, admiring the Pegasus athlete.
‘That kid has taste. Wait, how does she even know me?’
‘You won the Young Fliers contest and several others.’ Rarity reminded her friend, sipping at her brightly coloured cocktail.
‘No biggie? You saved my life, did you not? Nopony would be wearing the fabulous designs of Rarity if it weren’t for you!’
‘Oh yeah, that too, I guess. Hey, Haysellhoof, you’re not doing anything, right?’
‘No, not much.’
‘Then why don’t you be my partner in the beach volleyball tournament?’
‘I was just about to ask Rarity if she would join me.’ Haysellhoof said, turning to the white unicorn who spat her drink out onto the sand. She wanted to go with Haysellhoof, but if she said yes, then Rainbow Dash wouldn’t think very well of her...oh well, let Rainbow Dash think what she wants.
‘Um, I would love to, Haysellhoof.’ Rarity said, to which Rainbow scowled.
‘Now hang on one minute! When I asked you, you said no!’
‘The lady has made up her mind.’ Haysellhoof continued, to which Rainbow Dash somehow scowled even more than she was already.
‘Fine! I’ll find somepony who will play with me, then!’ Rainbow Dash yelled, storming off to look for a suitable partner.
~/*~
‘Welcome to the Beach Volleyball championships! We have 10 teams ready and raring to go, and the winner gets an amazing mystery prize!’ An announcer called out, to which the crowd of ponies watching responded with cheers and applause.
‘First up, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle vs. Rarity and Haysellhoof!’
Rarity giggled. Twilight Sparkle? Play volleyball? Good one, Rainbow Dash.
‘Rarity, you’re my opponent!’ Twilight said to her friend, stating the obvious, which she did a fair bit considering she was an intelligent pony.
‘Yes, yes I am. Good luck.’ They exchanged a hoofshake before standing in their respective positions ready for the contest. The announcer cleared her throat ready to make another statement.
‘You all know the rules: Magic is not permitted to influence the ball or other players. You use your front hooves to bump the ball to the other side in which one of the other side will return it. If the opposing team does not return the ball, for example, they miss and it touches the floor, or it touches the net, a point is awarded to the opposing team. More than one hoof bump is allowed per turn but no one pony can hit the ball two times in a row. First to 12 wins!’
Rarity struggled to take all of the information in, but Haysellhoof whispered to her,
‘Just hit the ball with your hoof and don’t use magic.’ Rarity nodded. Much better. Her dresses may be layered and complicated, but sometimes the simple facts were what Rarity needed.
‘BEGIN!’ Cried the announcer, tossing the ball to Rainbow Dash to start the match.
Rainbow Dash thwacked the ball with her right hoof, looking as if she hadn’t put in any amount of energy, but the ball still travelled at a quick pace towards Rarity, who flailed with her front hooves and just hitting the ball by chance. It went high into the air but just went past the net where Twilight bumped it toward the opposing side with surprising force for a Unicorn, whose muscular structure was weaker than that of an Earth pony or a Pegasus. Haysellhoof was on it though, hopping to the far left where Twilight had hit it, punching the ball downward while it was still in the air. Rainbow Dash tried to reach the ball in time, but it was no use. It hit the sand and the referees whistle blew.
‘Point to Rarity & Haysellhoof!’ The announcer shouted, raising her hands which made the crowds watching cheer. Rainbow scowled and had a quick word with Twilight, who nodded. Rarity struggled to make out their conversation but she was sure they were planning something.
‘BEGIN!’ The announcer called, tossing the ball to Rarity, who saw it coming and bumped it over with ease. Twilight feebly hit the ball, meaning Rarity had to run just in front of the net, hitting it over to Twilight. Twilight smiled and smashed the ball all the way to the back of the court. Even Rarity was surprised by her aggressiveness. Rarity tried to run backwards to get the ball, but tripped over a sand dune just behind her, the ball landing on her head.
‘Point to Rainbow Dash & Twilight Sparkle!’ The referee announced, the crowd cheering wildly once again. Both teams were very even, so it was anypony's game
In conclusion: Never go to Haywaii again!
Applejack awoke in her hotel room bead with her trademark hat missing, several bandages in its place. Slowly recollecting the past events, Applejack pieced together what had happened.
‘Oh shucks. This was meant to be my relaxing holiday, and now I’m stuck in bed. T’aint fair.’ The work pony muttered to herself, slumping back into her covers, rubbing her head in pain. She peeked outside the window and saw some of her friends playing Volleyball outside.
‘I’d give anythin’ to be out there with my friends...relaxin’ in the Haywaii sun.’ She continued, sighing with disbelief at her stupidity for bucking heavy fruit such as the coconut. Applejack glanced around the lavish room, spying several in a fruit bowl. She growled at them before standing up, wincing in visible pain.
‘Well, I better find my hat. That was Granny Smith’s hat that she gave to me when I was a young’un and I can’t lose it.’ She thought to herself, scanning the hotel rooms for any obvious places someone might leave a hat.
‘Well where is it? Surely somepony would have put it on the hat rack right infront of the buckin’ door.’ Applejack said, lamenting. She searched in the less obvious places now. She looked in the chest of drawers and even under beds, Celestia knows why hotel staff would put her hat there, but it was good to check anyway.
‘Well, i guess front office has it, then.’ Applejack said, making her way down the hallway and the stairs towards the entrance desk with a receptionist pony that looked shockingly familiar. The cyan pony with poufy hair looked up at Applejack and smiled.
‘You must be the one who tried kicking the coconuts down from their trees.’ She said in an ersatz tone, that sounded distinctly off somehow.
Applejack glowered. ‘Yeah, that’s me. Wondering if you have my hat?’ She asked politely.
‘Hat...hat. Sure we had some kind of hat dropped off here earlier. Was it this one?’ The mare popped up with a bright pink woolly knit hat in her mouth.
‘No, it’s a brown cowpony kind of hat.’ Applejack said, thinking that would be fairly obvious if she had seen her earlier. The mare rummaged through what looked like a box of lost hats, but the closest they could come to Applejacks hat was a Daring Do replica hat. And that wasn’t even close.
‘Sorry, madam, I tried, madam, but, alas, madam, I couldn’t find it, madam.’ The mare squeaked.
‘But surely you can-‘
‘Madam.’
Applejack scowled again. She was doing an awful lot of that recently. This was meant to be a holiday! Applejack calmed herself and thought through where her hat might be. Maybe it fell off when they were carrying her to her hotel room? That must be it. She just had to retrace the route they took her to the hotel...oh, consarn it, she was unconscious! Well, maybe she’d just try to walk back to the Coconut strips and hopefully find her hat along the way!
~/*~
‘Both teams are at eleven points and this will be the tiebreaker as to who gets through to the next round!’ The announcer called, to which the crowd cheered. The competition was fierce. Twilight must have read quite a bit about Volleyball because she was normally hopeless at sports. Rainbow Dash often got ahead of herself, or hit the ball too hard so it went out of the court.
‘BEGIN!’ The ball was tossed into the air towards Rainbow Dash, who hit it toward Haysellhoof, hoping to intimidate him. However, he stood his ground and with a mighty punch returned the ball towards Twilight, who looked to Rainbow Dash.
‘WINNER! RAINBOW DASH & TWILIGHT SPARKLE!’ The announcer called as the referee blew her whistle. Twilight cheered and so did Rainbow Dash, taunting Rarity and Haysellhoof.
‘My first game of Volleyball was a complete success! I should write a letter to the princess about it.’ Twilight thought, planning out the letter in her head already, lost in deep thought.
‘Was there ever any doubt? Me, the amazing and one and only Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s finest athlete, won again! We were only up against some surfer and Rarity anyway! Oh yes! Hahaha! Wait, where did everypony go?’ Rainbow Dash said, looking around in puzzlement.
Twilight looked up, her mind breaking from the imaginary writing of her letter. ‘Yeah, everypony has gone all of a sudden. And it seems kind of shady.’ She said, looking up and immediately regretting it, for hovering in the air was a fearsome Wyvern Dragon, blocking the sun from view and scanning the beach with his reptilian eyes.
‘Rainbow, Rarity. Stay absolutely still and quiet and it won’t notice us.’ Twilight told her friend, who looked up at the Dragon in the sky and retracting into the sand in fear. She wasn’t scared of dragons normally, but this one looked...scarier than most.
‘Mah hat! I found mah hat guys!’ A southern voice called out, attracting the attention of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and the Wyvern. However, the large mass did not see anything and continued to flap it’s gargantuan wings suspending itself in the air.
‘Oh, Nelly.’ Applejack said, placing the hat on her head and cowering, sitting down onto the floor.
‘We can’t just sit here forever Twilight? What do we do?’ Rainbow Dash asked her egghead friend, who thought a while and scratched her head.
‘Wyverns are a rare species...I don’t know much about them, nor does anypony.’ She concluded, panic in her voice slowly starting to creep in.
‘Who’s that?’ Applejack asked, pointing towards a shadowy figure crawling from the forest canopy.
‘It looks like it has two heads! And 8 hooves!’ Rarity said, straining her voice to be quiet.
‘No, it’s just two ponies. And I think I know who.’ Twilight said, the two figures becoming more apparent now, one head adorned with curly bouncy hair and one with long sweeps and curves. Pinkie and Fluttershy, of course.
‘Hey guys! We have some bad news.’ Pinkie told her friend loudly, which alerted the dragon. Twilight waved her hooves to get Pinkie to stop talking, but once she started it was hard to stop her.
‘Well, Fluttershy and I went on safari together and we might have kinda...kinda sorta...angered a giant Wyvern Dragon to rampage out of its natural habitat and storm onto this beach, attacking several ponies, causing a bit of disruption, you know, the general dragon-y sort of thing to do, and now we’re outrunning an angry mob who hate us for ruining their paradise.’ Pinkie wrapped up, gasping for air and then glancing up, spying the dragon, her pupils widening in horror, inhaling ready to let out a big scream.
‘Pinkie promise you won’t scream!’ Twilight snapped at her friend, who let out the air quickly, covering her mouth and nodding. Fluttershy was shaking so hard she could barely walk, let alone talk properly.
Suddenly, an idea came into Twilight’s head.
‘Pinkie, do you know where your speedboat is, the one you used to get here?’ Twilight asked her pink friend, who rubbed her chin in thought.
‘Oh, sure, Twi, I put it in my saddlebags. How could I forget?’ Pinkie Pie said, signalling her friends to look away.
‘How could you even fit one in there?’ Rarity asked.
‘Trust me...it’s possible.’ Fluttershy whispered, covering her eyes. ‘Just look away and she’ll do it.’
Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow all covered their eyes so Pinkie could get her boat out without revealing the secret to her never-ending bags. After several grunting noises and what sounded like a lot of struggling, before a splash, and several bouts of gasping.
‘Ta-dah!’ Pinkie called, her friends opening their eyes and seeing a white speedboat with yellow stripes and a sun insignia on it floating in the sea. Twilight bit her hoof in anticipation.
‘Property of H.R.H Celestia.’ Twilight read from the boat, scowling at Pinkie who smiled sheepishly.
‘What are we waiting for? Let’s go!’ Rainbow Dash told her friends, about to zoom to the boat, before Twilight used her magic to stop her.
‘Hang on, I have a better plan. I’ll distract the dragon while you guys get on. Then I’ll use my teleporting magic to catch up with you. Alright?’ Her friends nodded, sensing the urgency of the situation. Twilight gulped and got ready to shout...
Twilight blinked back into reality in the speedboat, which was only a few yards away from where she had started her spell, so it didn’t take much effort.
‘Pinkie Pie! Start the boat!’
Pinkie nodded, and floored the pedal, only for nothing to happen.
...
‘Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the speedboat is out of gas.’
